Apparatus for the continuous casting of metals



-*7, 1958 l. ROSS! 2,818,616

APPARATUS FOR THE CONTINUOUS CASTTNG OF METALS Filed July 15, 1954 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. TRVING ROS SI I I V ,22% *8 L7 ATTORNEYS Jan. 7, 1958 I. ROSS! APPARATUS FOR THE CONTINUOUS CASTING 0F METALS 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 15,

INVENTOR. IRVING ROSSI Jan. 7, 1958 1. R055! 2,318,616

APPARATUS FOR THE CONTINUOUS CASTING 0F METALS Filed July 15, 1954 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 I INVENTOR. L IRVING ROSSI United States Patent APPARATUS FOR THE 'CONTINUOUS CASTING 0F ME'IALS Irving Rossi, Morristown, .N. '11., vass'ignor to Continuous Metalcast Co., Inc., Wilmington, -Del., a corporation of Delaware Application July 15, 1954, Serial No. 443,485

3 Claims. 01. ar -57.2

This invention relates to apparatus for the continuous casting of metals.

In processes for the continuous casting of metals, it is customary to pour molten metal .continuously into the one end of a casting mold and to withdraw solidified metal continuously from the other end. The casting mold is cooled in any desired manner, usually by circulating cooling water therein. As heat is Withdrawn from the metal in the mold, a thin skin or shell of metal in contact with the cool mold walls begins to solidify. Gradually, however, as the withdrawal of heat continues, the solidified skin becomes thicker and eventually becomes thick enough and Strong enough to sustain the hydrostatic pressure of the molten metal within the skin. At this point shrinkage begins, and as the solidified metal continues to cool, it begins to shrink away from the mold wall,'t-hus creating an air gap between the solidified metal and the cool mold wall. Such an air gap reduces the rate of heat transfer from the metal to the mold and slows down the rate of solidification of molten metal.

It is an object of the present invention to combine with the usual casting mold one or more cooling aprons which can be moved into and out of engagement with'the casting in the region immediately below the casting mold. While held in engagement with the casting, such cooling aprons also move downwardly with the casting at the same speed at which the casting is being withdrawn, so asto maintain an efiicient heat transfer relationship with the casting during this portion of the operating cycle. Then, while the aprons are held out of engagement with the casting, they move upwardly until they reengage the casting, ready to move downwardly inan'other operating cycle. Preferably the return movement of the aprons, while they are out of engagement with thecasting, is at a faster rate than the advancing movement so that the aprons will be out of contact with the casting for as short a period as possible.

A further object of the invention is to combine the movement of the aprons with a reciprocating movement of the casting mold such as disclosed in Junghans Patent No. 2,135,183.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear hereinafter.

A preferred embodiment of the invention selected for purposes of illustration is shown in the accompanying drawings, in which,

Figure 1 is a semi-diagrammatic perspective view of the apparatus.

Figure 2 is a front elevation.

Figure 3 is a side elevation.

Referring to the drawings, the apparatus comprises a casting mold 1 having a rectangular mold passage 2 extending therethrough. During the casting process, molten metal is poured continuously into the open upper end of the casting mold, and solidified casting 3 is withdrawn continuously from the mold under control of the "ice rollers 4 which may be driven by a suitable source of power.

In the preferred embodiment illustrated the mold is reciprocated in accordance with the principles disclosed in the Junghans patent above referred to in such manner that the mold moves downwardly with the casting at the same rate that the casting is being withdrawn, and then moves upwardly at a faster rate. For the purpose of reciprocating the mold, it is conveniently mounted in a mold table 5 which is connected by links 6, 6 to the horizontal arms of hell cranks 7, 7 pivotally mounted on fixed supports 8, 8. The vertical arms of the bell cranks are connected by links 9, 9' to levers 10,10 secured to shaft 11. Also secured to the shaft 11 is a lever 12 connected by a link 13 to lever 14 pivoted on a fixed support 15. Lever 14 carries a roller 16 which rides in the track 17 of cam 18. The cam is secured to shaft 19 which is rotated in timed relation with the rollers 4, the shape of the cam being such that the mold is moved downwardly at the same rate at which the casting is being withdrawn from the mold. Then, at the end of the down stroke, the cam reverses the direction of movement of the levers 12, 14, causing the mold table and mold to move upwardly, preferably at a faster rate. connected to the levers 12 and 14 by rollers 13a and 13b which ride in slots 12' and 14' respectively. The length of the stroke of the mold may be adjusted by suitable adjustment of the rollers 13a and 13bin the respective slots.

While the mold is being reciprocated as above described, the cooling aprons are reciprocated with the mold and they are also caused to grip the casting during their downward movement with the mold and to release from the casting during their return movement. Preferably, the aprons are provided with cooling passages and connections (not shown) by means of which cooling water may be circulated within the aprons during the casting operation. Alternatively the aprons may be cooled by water sprays or otherwise.

In the preferred embodiment illustrated, since the mold passage is square, two pairs of cooling aprons 21, 21a and 22, 22a are provided so that an apron is available to engage each of the four faces of the casting. In the diagram of Figure 1 only the aprons 21 and 21a are shown and while all four aprons are shown in Figures 2 and 3, it will be necessary to refer only briefly to aprons 22 and 22a as their construction and operation is identical to 21 and 21a.

The aprons are mounted for swinging movement on the hood 23 which depends from and moves with the mold table 5. Each apron is carried on an arm such as the arms 24, 2411 which are secured to the shafts 25, 250 which are mounted to rock on the hood. The arms 26, 26:: are also secured to the shafts 25, 25a, and these arms, in turn, are connected to strut 27. The connection is through a bell crank 28 having a horizontal arm which pivotally engages the strut 27 and a vertical arm which pivotally engages the lower end of arm 26a. The floating pivot 29 of the bell crank 28 is connected by a link 30 to the lower end of arm 26. The connection is such that downward movement of the strut 27 swings the bell crank 28 in clockwise direction. This motion swings the arm 26a to the right and moves the apron 21a away from the casting. At the same time, due to the floating pivot 29, the link 30 swings the arm 26 to the left and moves the apron 21 away from the casting. When the strut 27 moves upwardly, of course, the motions are reversed and the aprons are moved into engagement with the casting.

Referring now to Figure 3, it will be observed that the other pair of aprons 22 and 22a are operated from The link 13 is l 7 3 I the link in precisely the same manner by bell crank 31, link 32 and arms 33, 33a.

Strut 27 is reciprocated by bell crank 34 mounted on a fixed support 35, the vertical arm of the crank being connected by link 36 to one end of a saddle 37, the other end of which is pivoted on the depending end of arm 38 which is secured to the shaft 11. Due to this connection, the link and lever system which operates to cause the aprons to engage and disengage the casting maintains its proper position relative to the mold and mold table as these parts are reciprocated so that the aprons are not engaged or disengaged thereby. That is, if the saddle 37 were pivoted on a fixed support, the downward movement of the mold table would cause counter clockwise movement of bell crank 28. This is compensated by mounting the saddle 37 on the arm 38, so that except for additional motion imparted to the link and lever system, the aprons would remain in engagement with the casting at all times during reciprocation of the mold.

The aprons are, however, caused to engage and disengage the casting in timed relation to the reciprocation of the mold. For this purpose, a cam 39 is mounted to rotate on shaft 11 in position to engage roller 4t) on the saddle 37. Cam 39 is driven by shaft 19 in one to one relationship by bevel gear 41 secured to shaft 19 meshing with bevel gear 42 on shaft 43 and bevel gear 44 on shaft 43 meshing with bevel gear 45 secured to the cam 39. Cam 39 has a high section which swings the saddle 37 in counter clockwise direction to cause the strut 27 to move downward to cause the aprons to move away from the casting. The cams 18 and 39 are so adjusted and timed that as the mold reaches the end of its downward movement with the casting, the high sec tion of cam 39 separates the aprons from the casting. The high section is of a length sulficient to keep the aprons separated during the return movement of the mold, but as the return movement is completed, the saddle rides 01f of the high section of the cam, the aprons again engage the casting. The actual closing force for the aprons is supplied by the spring 46 the upper end of which bears against a collar 47 on the upper end of strut 27 and the lower end of which bears on the housing 48 which extends downwardly from the hood 23. The spring is under compression which holds the roller 40 against the cam 39 and holds the aprons in yielding engagement with the casting except when the aprons are separated by the action of the high section of cam 39.

It will be understood that the invention may be variously modified and embodied within the scope of the subjoined claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. Apparatus for the continuous casting of metals comprising a casting mold having a mold passage extending therethrough into which molten metal may be poured and from which a partially solidified casting may be withdrawn, means to withdraw the casting from the mold, means operating in timed relation therewith to cause the mold to move periodically with the casting at the same speed as the casting and to cause the mold to be retracted at a ditferent speed, a pair of cooling aprons located below the exit end of said mold passage and connected to said mold to move therewith, and means operated by said withdrawing means to cause said aprons to engage said casting while said mold is moving therewith and to disengage said casting while said mold is being retracted.

2. Apparatus for the continuous casting of metals comprising a casting mold having a mold passage extending therethrough into which molten metal may be poured and from which apartially solidified casting may be withdrawn, a pair of cooling aprons located below the exit end of said mold passage, means to withdraw the casting from the mold, and means operated by said withdrawing means in timed relation thereto to cause said aprons to engage said casting and to move with the casting while they are held in engagement therewith and to disengage said casting and move in an opposite direction while they are disengaged from the casting.

3. Apparatus for the continuous casting of metals comprising a casting mold having a mold passage extending therethrough into which molten metal may be poured and from which a partially solidified casting may be withdrawn, 3. pair of cooling aprons located below the exit end of said mold passage, means to withdraw the casting from the mold, common supporting means for said mold and aprons, and means operated by said withdrawing means in timed relation thereto to cause said aprons to engage said casting and to cause said supporting means and said mold and aprons to move with the casting at the same speed as the casting while said aprons are held in engagement with the casting and to cause said aprons to disengage said casting and to cause said supporting means and said mold and aprons to move in an opposite direction while said aprons are disengaged from the casting.

References Cited in thefile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,800,938 Hedly Apr. 14, 1931 2,135,184 Junghans Nov. 1, 1938 2,202,702 Lindner et a1 May 28, 1940 2,284,503 Williams May 26, 1942 FOREIGN PATENTS 598,385 Great Britain Feb. 17, 1948 702,719 Great Britain Jan. 20, 1954 474,688 Canada June 26, 1951 925,131 France Mar. 24, 1947 862,485 Germany Ian. 12, 1953 

